Stalkers in the night
by postmanobama
Summary: Batman is hunting down a mysterious killer who is stalking Gothams streets, leaving no evidence behind him. To help him find and stop the killer, he enlists help from his newly enlisted sidekick, robin, on his first ever case. Enjoy and reveiw :D
1. Chapter 1

**Just as a side note, for chronological purposes, this story takes place after Frank Miller's Allstar Batman and Robin volume 1, which includes the orgins of Robin (Dick Grayson). The series has a darker feel than some other comics featuring the dark knight and i'm going to try to continue with the dark, moody type of story that Millar wrote. **

**For copyright Purposes I don't own any of the characters featured within, nor do i own any buissnesses, buildings or establishments contained in my story.**

For Bruce Wayne sleep was impossible to find. He had spent nights sitting in the comforting glow of the Bat-computer, his eyes scanning the screens, searching the crime scene photographs for missed clues, like an unnoticed blood splatter or a sign of forced entry. Every night he came up with similar results. The door to the grisly scene had not been forced open, no windows had been smashed and there were certainly no holes in the walls. As for blood splashes there were none, bar the stream of rusty red blood that had dried on the victim's clothes and carpet. The victim had been killed quickly, with a single cut to the throat, and left to rot in her apartment. By the time police had arrived her cats had eaten half her face and her identity had to be distinguished via dental records. The Gotham police department ruled it off as a 'crime of passion' or a 'random act of violence'. Bruce didn't believe in such things as 'random acts', and this was too controlled to be 'random'. Gotham had a highly intelligent serial killer stalking its streets once more. The disturbing thing about this case was that nothing had been left to draw attention to the killer, no calling card left behind. No slip ups were made. Perhaps the killer had planned this for years, but Bruce doubted it. A killer has bizarre needs; need to end a life, a need to see pain and fear in victim's eyes. It was a power thing. Most killers had little control over there own lives, so it makes them feel superior to have control over someone else's. If only there was a hidden clue something that he had missed the first time, something that changed the way he looked at the scene, but-

'Master Bruce, I think that it's high time you retired for the evening… it's well into the morning, sir. You have been staring at a computer screen for hours…' Alfred paused 'you much remind me of my teenage niece' Bruce grunted in response.

'Where's Dick?' He growled 'The boy needs to look at this… see if he can make something out of it'

'You really want to expose him to such ghastly imagery, sir?' Alfred paused again, considering his statement 'Of course you do, your you. Master Grayson is sleeping in the lounge, atop a pile of criminal records. I believe he was on Vito Ginelli when he began to doze an hour or so ago.'

'You let him sleep!' Bruce shouted 'damn it Alfred, the boy lives on my schedule, not his own… boy needs to learn'

'The boy also needs to sleep, sir.

Now sir, I would kindly ask you to refrain from treating me like common dirt , and to release your me from your grip'

Bruce looked down, confused at first at Alfred's comment, and realised he was holding his dear friend and loyal servant by the collar. Immediately releasing his vice like grip from Alfred's collar, Bruce looked his companion in the eyes. Seeing nothing but compassion and caring stare back at him, turned away and began across the steel cat-walks that spanned the Bat-cave, toward an exit.

'Fine Let the boy sleep, but first thing tommorow I'm making him look over those photographs. we'll see if he can spot something I missed'

'And what of you master Bruce? Shall I make up your room?'

'No need Alfred, I'm going out. I'll be back by 6am. If the boy isn't awake by then, God help the both of you' Bruce shouted back, pulling up his cowl.

'Where is it that your going master Bruce?' Alfred called

'Hunting' Batman replied, dissapearing from veiw, into the shadows of the night.

**Okay, so I know it wasn't very long or to be honest particularly entertaining, but im just getting started with it and its my first ever fan fiction. Any and all comments and reveiws are welcome Good or bad. I'll update the story as soon as possible. -PO**


	2. Chapter 2

**This is the second part of my first fan fiction. I hope you all enjoy reading it. I tried to make it more exciting than the first installment, so please tell me what you think. **

**As ever I don not own any characters or any buissnesses metioned in the story itself **

The night was cold and clear, a crisp wind whistled through the night. Nearby a police siren wailed a solitary cry into the night. The streets below Batman were littered with autumn leaves, empty syringes and smashed glass. The buildings were aglow with red and pink lights and flashing neon signs, telling passer-by of twisted delights that may dwell within. This was the best hunting ground for miles around, full of back-alley scum of all kinds. The underworld of Gotham was full of Muggers, rapists, drug pushers and killers, the kind of scum that only come out at night, spending there days hiding in God-forsaken holes waiting for cover of darkness. In other words there are plenty of targets for Batman to vent his rage on.

His eyes scanned the night searching for a suitable target, his breathing steady and quiet, ready to hear the faintest cry for help. He hears nothing, adn continues to race across the rooftops, un-aware, perhaps, that he is moving closer to the scence of a crime that has puzzled him for the past few days. Finally he hears a cry, a single scream. High-pitched, feminine. The scream echoes from a nearby alleyway, bouncing of the confines of the walls. Batman watched the assailants. Four men, heavily built, brandishing metallic baseball bats and crow bars. The alpha of the pack approached the girl, stood hunched and quivering in the corner, behind trashcans. The leader of the pack is giving commands;

'Take off all of the rings on your fingers or i'll cut em' off' He smiles with a twisted glee 'An hows' bout' that pretty necklace' he says stroking the girls cheek with the back of his scarred hand.

Batman felt he had seen enough to know that these four men did not wish this girl well. He dropped from the fire escape, spreading his cape to slow his fall. Batman landed on top of the closest thug, bringing him to the floor with a sickening crunch. The others are quick to react, but not fast enough. The batman brought his elbow up, and cracked the second thug on the bridge of his nose, causing it to explode in a flurry of blood and gristle. Batman turned to face the third man, and was met by a hard blow to the face. Batman stumbled backward, his mind a slow moving blur, before regaining his balance and facing the two remaining thugs. Batman moved toward them, keeping his anger at being struck under control. He moved quickly and fluidly, using to the wall to rebound of delivering a bone-cracking kick to the fourth muggers face. That left the third mugger, the one who had hit him. The last mugger stood paralysed in fear as batman approached.

'Sleep deprivation slowed me down tonight. You would never have gotten that hit on me in normal circumstances. Do you understand that?' Batman barked at the thug. The Thug just satred back blankly, in stunned silence. Batman balled his hand into a fist and struck the mugger in the face. The mugger collapsed onto the alleyway floor. Batman picked up his unconsious body and struck it twice more in the jaw.

'That was because that actually hurt a little' He said, wiping a spot of blood from his lips. He used the grapple gun to ascend to the roof top. Normal he would have used the fire escape but his head still reeled from the blow. It had been a hard punch and he wasn't expecting it. Damn, Alfred had been right to suggest sleep. The prospect of admitting Alfred was right irritated him, even thought he had only admitted it to himself. Batman turned toward home. He would rest in the batcave for a few hours, then get Dick to look over those photos, see what he made of them. He was a bright kid, Batman hated to admit. He felt the humidity in the air, and knew it was going to rain. He moved further along the rooftops towards the nearest secret entrance to the batcave, but heard the wail of multiple sirens, no longer solitary, but a cluster. He tuned the radio frequency in his mask to match that of the police radio. The chatter began all at one, buzzing from the mask.

'Calling all units in downtown Gotham vicinity. We have reports of a murder in apartment 3b on downtown boulevard. Calling all Units in downtown Gotham...' The chatter continues over the radio, but batman is no longer listening. Blocking out the chatter he raced towards downtown boulevard, cursing his lack of sleep and the distinct bad timing.


	3. Chapter 3

**As always i own nothing in this story, characters belong to dc and any buissnesses belong to those who own them **

The scene within the apartment was just as expertly controlled as the previous murder had been, confirming that Gotham did indeed have a serial killer stalking the night. The second victim was male, whereas the original victim was a female. The male victim was muscled, tanned, dark haired, dark eyed, a complete contrast to the pale, wiry woman who had been the killer's first victim. Batman looked around at the scene, quickly scanning for any evidence left behind. On his first glance of the room, batman noticed nothing odd about the room, nothing out of place bar the lifeless corpse sprawled in the centre of the room. He began to move around the room cautiously, trying to avoid putting any items out of place. He examined the body, and the neck wound briefly. It was a clean cut like the first, only one single cut, and blood only down the front of the victim's shirt, as the though the flow had been controlled or directed. Batman used the built in mask camera to zoom in on the cut, uploading the photo to the bat-computer. He proceeded to do this for the rest of the crime scene. Some of the photos were rushed, taken too quickly, providing only blurs of the scene, but batman needed to get the photos fast before the GCPD had disturbed the crime scene and trampled over any evidence that might have existed. He picked up noises from out side the door, the shuffling of feet, the low hum of voices. Batman moved quickly toward the window, just as the door opened on rusty hinges. He leapt out the window on to the third floor fire escape, the way he had come in, and fired the grappling gun at the top of the roof adjacent to the apartment building. The grapple dragged him up with speed, making his cape flutter behind him, making him even more bat-like than ever. The wind rushed against his face, cold and refreshing. He began making his way steadily home; hoping for Alfred's sake Grayson was awake, refreshed and ready to continue his studies.

Dick Grayson was awake, and had indeed already continued his study of the criminal mind. He had had Alfred bring him coffee, more for the caffeine than the bitter taste. He reflected on the dramatic changes his life had undergone in the past month, and the difference that both batman and Bruce Wayne had had on him. It was hard to think of them as the same person, because they responded to him in such different ways. Batman was harsh, unfair and sometimes even cruel to Dick, but he had his reasons. And Batman had given him retribution for his parent's murder. He still missed them now, but Bruce Wayne had helped him get through that. He wondered if Batman/Bruce Wayne still missed his parents, or wondered what his life might have been like if they hadn't been shot dead in an alleyway when he was eight. He doubted Batman did, his mind was always on work or training, but Bruce Wayne might well do. He was flicking through various physiological profiles when Batman arrived, walking upright, making himself look as tall and menacing as possible.

'Grayson, front and centre' He commanded. Dick obeyed 'I want you in costume, down in the batcave, at the bat-computer. I want you to examine some crime scene photographs. Go now'

'Seriously, Bat-cave, bat-computer, bat-mobile. I mean do you even hear these names that you come up with? They're so…' Dick paused for a moment '… Queer'

'Im the Batman, I can call me goddamn crap whatever I goddamn want, you little brat' Dick had given him a lot of grief about his names for various pieces of equipment. Dick had pissed himself when he had been given a 'Batarang'. Batman had been quite shocked at his dismissal of the Batarang. Personally he thought it was quite a clever name.

Grayson changed quickly and became robin, and headed down to the bat-cave via the secret lift in Bruce's study. After navigating across the series of narrow cat walks, robin arrived above the bat-computer, and let loose a chilling laugh, that echoed around the confined space of the bat cave. Batman looked unfazed

'Get down from there, Robin. We have work to do' Robin dropped down glumly, promising himself that one day he would shock batman with his entrance.

'So what is it you wanted me to look at then?' He asked with genuine enthusiasm

'Crime scene photographs of a murder. It happened a week ago, in the victim's apartment, not far from here. Killer left no trace of evidence in the apartment what so ever. A second murder happened two blocks from the original killing. Again no obvious evidence was found at the scene of the crime. Victim was killed in much the same way as the first, with a single cut to the neck. I took then liberty of taking some photos of the crime scene. Do you notice anything out of the ordinary?'

'Is this some sort of test?' Robin asked his voice full of doubt.

'No test. This is as real as our line of work gets.'

'Uhh okay' Robin answered, still unsure of himself 'Is there something wrong with the picture though? I mean have you already found something out of the ordinary? Is this another training exercise?'

'No training exercise, Robin. I want your help with this. Your smarter than you give yourself credit for' replied batman, softer than usual

'Uhh thanks' said Robin, smiling a little. Finding his confidence he began scanning over the picture on the screen, flicking through them and checking different angles. Finally he sighed 'I can't spot anything extraordinary'

'Keep looking.' Batman sounded harsh again, almost angry. Robin complied and ran through the photos a second and third time. He was about to begin his fourth run through when something clicked inside his head.

'I found it!' he exclaimed, excited and filled with pride. He looked at batman, who looked genuinely shocked. His face was priceless. Robin was beaming. 'Look there on the mantle' robin pointed where he meant on the screen.

'A box of matches from a bar?' said batman 'Its hardly hard evidence'

'It may not be evidence, but look here on the side of the first crime scene.' Robin pointed at the screen again.

'They both have matches from the same bar, which means they may have known each other, which means they may have known the killer. This is a link. It may not lead us to the killer, but we have somewhere to start. Good work, robin. Try and find me a location.

'Already got it' said robin '_Midnight jacks'_ corner of 23rd street, downtown Gotham'

'Get ready to go robin. It's time you had a little real life experience'

'Bout' time' said robin rushing of excitedly 'race you to the bat-mobile'

Batman watched him run of towards the bat-mobile, and before chasing after his young ward, the corners of his mouth twitched a tiny bit, forming a smile. _The kids good_ he thought as he ran off after his sidekick.

**A message from your friendly neighbourhood postmanobama: Guys if youve read this story then i thank you, but i'd thank you even more if you took a few minutes to leave a reveiw, or follow me, or message me or do anything really. It doesnt need to be positive but i really would like to know what you guys think and if you have something positive to say please go for it. special thanks to nightbat-family (sorry if thats wrong :)) for writing his reveiw. **

**-Postmanobama **


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